Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

51 reviews

itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I remember seeing a lot of hype surrounding this book. While I'm not the type to fall for hype after reading the blurb, I came to the conclusion this book wouldn't have the same tired old problems as books that tend to get hyped (glorification of abusive relationships, gender bioessentialism, characters that act like walking tropes) and should give it a go. I was mostly right.

I think if you read books purely for vibes and you enjoy richly described dark fairy tales you'll probably enjoy this boom greatly.

What I liked:

• Vasya was a realistic protagonist who was easy to empathise with. Though set mostly in the Russian countryside, I think anyone growing up on the fringes of society in some capacity can relate to Vasya's struggles as our world seems to be heading in a darker direction and we're expected to keep our heads down and not question anything.
• I also enjoyed Vasya's family's dynamics with each other.
  It really paid off when Dunya died and eventually came back as a thrall of The Bear, and Pyotr chose to sacrifice himself to bind The Bear. Dunya's ghastly resurrection was especially hard to read.
• Vasya did not end up in any last minute unnecessary romantic relationships or forced by the plot to "find the right man". I don't know if she is explicitly aromantic, asexual or aromantic asexual but it was depressingly refreshing to have a female lead whose freedom from romantic or sexual relationships was seen as a good thing. It would have been so easy to have her hook up with the Frost King at the end and major kudos to Arden for not going there. More MCs like this please! The bar is subterranean!

What I didn't like:

• I feel like the bulk of the plot was backended towards the last third of the book. While it was necessary to build up
  the village's conversion to Christianity through fear and the consequences of ignoring the demons that used to help them
  the same things kept happening and got very repetitive to the point of it being accidentally comedic. Seeing how this is Arden's debut novel, I'm sure she can improve her pacing in later novels.
• Some of the characters do end up feeling kind of tropey. While this is to be expected in fairy tales, said characters feel more like a means to progress the plot rather than be organic characters or twists on the trope they were embodying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Death of parent, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Animal death, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

bookycnidaria's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexism, Violence, Mental illness, and Rape

chloebaboey's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Animal death, Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Blood, and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Animal cruelty

beanaroni's review against another edition

This was not really picking up for me and I particularly wasn't enjoying

how frequently I had to read about Pyotr raping Anna.

I'm going to try one of Arden's other books later. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

The main character's father marries a teenage girl and repeatedly "goes to her bed" (aka, rapes her) for, and I quote, "marital duty." The last instance I read before DNFing describes her as literally weeping and he doesn't appear to have a reaction to it at all.

bellyreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

If you're looking for a fast-paced, plot-based fantasy (which seems like the main talking points of several negative reviews here), this isn't it. It's slow, coming-of-age and character-focused, and the "physical" aspects of the plot and battle with the "Big Bad" is in service of the character development rather than the plot (i.e. the character development IS the plot!)

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gore, Rape, and Child abuse

gabrielle_reads_a_lot's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape

foxwish's review against another edition

I cannot force myself to read the rest of this boring story with one dimensional characters, poor pacing and jarring POV changes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Pedophilia, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual violence

whooliio's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Death

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexism

Minor: Self harm, Animal cruelty, and Rape

buildingtaste's review against another edition

The style was not one I could sustain reading for a whole novel. At once felt quite surface-level and unwieldy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Rape

A supporting character is forcibly married and repeatedly raped by an otherwise neutral/protagonist character.

jenni_sunderland's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Liked the imagery and the creatures but would have preferred it without the casual sexism and sexual assault. I understand that it was set in a time where women were deemed less and their whole purpose and duty was marriage and children but it is annoying 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault